(Yicai) April 17 -- Jiyue Auto, a Chinese premium smart car brand set up by tech giant Baidu and carmaker Geely Holding Group, said it let go of a worker for violating a contract clause by engaging in a competitive business, and not for buying a Xiaomi car as rumored.

The employee was part of Jiyue’s social media team but opened personal accounts on many platforms to promote Xiaomi products for three months, the carmaker told Yicai. He also skipped work to pick up a Xiaomi SU7 at the first delivery ceremony, it added.

Dayao Tok, a social media vlogger, recently said that Jiyue fired him because he bought a Xiaomi car. He mentioned the SU7 Founders Edition in a post on April 3 and also posted about attending the first delivery ceremony.

The employee has published many videos on his social media accounts during working hours, disrupting the company’s work order and discipline, Jiyue pointed out.

Established as Jidu in Shanghai in January 2021, the electric vehicle brand was renamed Jiyue last August. It released its first concept car, the Jidu ROBO-01, in June 2022 and renamed it the Jiyue 01 last October.

However, Jiyue sold only 2,300 units in the six months since the car hit the market under the new name, with it blaming poor marketing and making several internal changes. Chief Executive Joe Xia took personal charge of marketing to boost sales, while Andy Gao, who used to work for US carmaker Tesla, replaced the chief of Jiyue’s sales department.

Editor: Martin Kadiev